As I mentioned on Wednesday, Scrubby Cotton was made to clean. If you don’t believe me, check out this link for the 7 months of Scrubby; there are a ton of featured patterns. While thinking about the Simple Knit Dishcloth pattern, I realized there are several other things you can make with that pattern that aren’t dishcloths. By simply altering the amount of stitches cast on or the length it is knit, you can clean your cat’s teeth (while entertaining it) and make some pretty cool dust covers.

It’s catnip! In addition to the instructions below, you may want to go down a couple needle sizes. My swatch was a fairly open stitch and small catnip flakes slide right through the fabric.

While I was knitting a little swatch, I lost track of time and managed to knit more of a rectangle than a square. While I was inspecting it, I realized that this swatch looked kind of like those felt catnip knots my vet gives out to good kitties who behave themselves. You place the catnip in the middle, fold the sides in, and tie the whole thing in a knot. My cats love biting on these and given that so many dental products for pets are so hard to use, this is something nice and easy. As the cats chew on the little catnip pouch they’re actually cleaning their own teeth. Any dental care toys I’ve bought in the past have a similar feel, a rough netting covering. On the other hand, this is something in which my cats actually have an interest. It could just be the whim of my cat overlords, or that I knit it and my scent is all over it, or it could just be catnip fueled hysteria. Either way, they love it.

Kitty loving his Scrubby Knotty Knot – YouTube

It’s been a cat heavy week, but really, they’re the cause of most of the mess in my house. It’s all about preventative maintenance. I have throws all over my couches to keep the fur off my couch. I can just toss them in the wash, do a light vacuum of the couch itself and we’re good to go. One thing I find really hard to keep clean is the keyboard of my computer. It’s a laptop so the keyboard, that has the processor and fans under it, is warm and inviting. Some people buy plastic covers to keep dirt, dust, and (in my case) pet fur out of their keyboards. I really don’t like the look of them, though, so I have never invested, and besides, usually everything sticks to the plastic cover and it is hard to clean. I cast on 50 stitches instead of the recommended amount and it worked out perfectly to cover my 13″ keyboard. If you wanted to you could even knit it long enough to cover the trackpad too. Even if you don’t have pets, this is a good practice to get into. I’ve cleaned out more than one keyboard and you would not believe the dirt and dust that gets in there. When the keyboard is not in use, just drape your Scrubby Cotton keyboard protector over top. It’s also handy to have a cloth there to wipe down the surface intermittently.

Just don’t leave it on your keyboard when you close your laptop, right?

A peek at my keys underneath the keyboard cover. No dust and dirt getting in here!

Now I know those who are reading this on a computer just glanced down at the keys in shame and are trying to remember the last time you cleaned out your keyboard. It’s an often overlooked place to tidy, and we all forget about it.

About Michelle Nguyen

Michelle Nguyen is founder and creative director of Stitch Please Yarns. She originally got into the fiber arts business writing about knitting at her blog Stitches be Slippin, and now, also writes for KNITmuch.com.

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